


At Peace

by AikoIsari



Series: Gameboard [1]
Category: Digimon - All Media Types, Digimon Xros Wars | Digimon Fusion
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Mind Games, Minor Original Character(s), Swearing, Wish Magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-19
Updated: 2014-12-04
Packaged: 2018-02-05 09:35:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 36
Words: 14,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1813753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AikoIsari/pseuds/AikoIsari
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I used to want to kill him, if only to win the war. I still want to kill him, if only to end mine." No one really wins a war. Xros Wars AU, from episode 53, Generals-centric, told in scenes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Mercy

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and welcome!
> 
> The season is Xros Wars, the setting is a successful D5. How it began, how it will end, some of that could be up to you if you'd like. This fic will likely not make immediate sense but that's okay. All will become clear.
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> Warnings: This contains references to murder, character death, violence, OOC, AU, and swearing. Any other warnings will be mentioned in future ficlets.

" _It's okay; I'll give you mercy too."_

Sometimes he thought of the dream.

It was a dream where he was taller, where there was always a shining sun in the daytime and a white moon in the evening. He was ordinary, he was a sportsman.

Sometimes he thought of the dream where he repented his sins properly. He was well-liked, his heart was strong.

His sempai looked out for him.

"How long will you be dreaming, Amano Yuu-kun?"

The small blonde shuddered and looked up at the gaze before him. It was a gentle sort. Even now, even though it was now a deep, abyssal black, those eyes were still gentle. The person held out their hand. It was not to take. It was to drive away. Around it glowed scarlet wisps, spiraling in an inferno of pain. A smile played across the lips. Yuu trembled once more.

"Taiki-san…"

The other widened his smile, catlike in its very serenity. "Amano Yuu-kun," he repeated steadily. "Are you ready?"

"No," Yuu said miserably. "How could I be?"

Taiki shrugged without mercy. "That doesn't mean it won't happen." Licking his lips, a violet gleam formed in the center of those black eyes. There weren't pupils there, never again. "Don't worry Amano Yuu-kun. It will be quick; painless. You were useful to him; therefore, I am to be merciful to you." The wisps settled themselves into a small, twisting orb as he added. "Perhaps you will be able to keep dreaming."

His body shook with an ocean wave. "No…" he whispered.

"Yes," Taiki said softly with a shake of his brown head. "Sayonara…Yuu."

His vision was darkened with red.


	2. Tense

II. Tense

" _Look at me, not the past."_

It used to not be this way.

"Wait. Please."

It used to be a world with stars.

He did. That was something Taiki just did, Yuu realized. He allowed these little things.

He used to be the one with a cross on his back.

Yet… when he looked around, when he acknowledged what was coming closer to him, nothing had really changed. There was Taiki, and he was still his opponent, his rival. They were fighting to the death for this other world, for their Digital World. Again, he was the loser. He was the shadow, the second-best. This time, however, he hurt so much more.

"Are you satisfied with this, Amano Yuu-kun?"

"Taiki-san…" he said, resting his pale blue eyes on the red light at his neck. Was he waiting for something? The other cocked his head, patient. "Why are you doing this?" The older boy, brown spikes seeming sharper in the red glow, peered at him with an odd twist to his smile. Had he unsettled him? Had he, even if for a moment, caught him off-guard as he hadn't before? "You… You're supposed to be kind…"

The red light receded from its spot at the edge of his throat. Taiki scratched his head, black gaze incomprehensible. "What a strange thing to say," commented the other boy. "Isn't it kind of me… to end your suffering here? If you die you will be reborn as something more. If you keep fighting like this, you will be captured and killed by one much worse than myself. Amano Yuu-kun, I see in your eyes… that scares you more than I." Yuu gripped at the frayed pockets of his trousers, trying to hide the fear that was threatening to seep into his pants.

A gentle chuckle left Taiki's lips. "I thought you were… a good game player. There's no sport left in you."

 _It's not a game,_  he wanted to say.  _It's a war, a series of wars that aren't going to end unless you stop. Weren't you the one who told me that?_

"So let me kill you, Amano Yuu-kun," Taiki said to him; his voice pleasant in a way it hadn't been before… before that moment of their lives. "We don't want to fight, do we? We… or I at least… would like this hunt to end… and for everything to begin again."

In those eyes was something… or perhaps someone. They locked with his and Yuu gathered bravado he never thought he had. "Then don't talk," he said with the coolest smirk he could. "I stopped you once."

The hand reached out once more. Instead of attacking however, it rested palm down, to muss his hair. "You're a good boy," Taiki complimented. "A smart, silly boy. I hope this… will bring you mercy."

Once more, his vision turned red. This time, scarlet began to burrow, digging deep to etch into his skin. The pain was not great, as Taiki had promised. Misery and despair took its place.

Taiki-san… was no longer the good-hearted General he had faced in battle. Who was he?

 _I suppose it doesn't matter…_  Yuu thought.  _I can't save him anymore. I… then again… I probably never could._

… _Are you really someone who gives up that easily?_

_Who are you?_

… _What's the point of telling you that?_


	3. Fear

III. Fear

" _Cowardice is a virus within us all."_

"Nene, it's going to be okay."

"…"

"Nene…"

The brunette didn't look at her this time and Akari sighed softly. It was not a noise of irritation, but sympathy. "Yuu will be all right," she tried again. Still, Nene's silence remained even as she paced restlessly through the small place they stayed in. The redhead turned herself toward the black entryway only feet from where she sat. "He's got Zenjirou watching for him, and Sparrowmon too."

They were empty words and Akari knew it. She looked at the dark entrance to the outside world and sighed gently. Cutemon wriggled in her arms, the pink rabbit trying to hug her in his own futile way.

Nene finally stopped after a moment of quiet, going to sit beside Akari in the dirt. Once, Akari would have doubted she would dare do that. That was before they were friends and before she had ever seen the world- _worlds_ , rather- fall apart like a house of cards. She wrapped her free arm around Nene's shoulders and let her tremble.

"This is wrong," Nene finally whispered. "It was only a few moments. We were only separated for a few moments. What happened to him? Taiki-kun…"

Akari cringed. Her best friend… was he still in there? In that smiling shell? "We… we have to believe that he is," she said. "That's what he would do right now."

"And what if he's not, kyu?" Cutemon looked at her, beady eyes hard with something, an emotion she would consider wrong for any member of their ragtag band. "What if he's not there anymore, kyu?"

The redhead hesitated before shaking her head. "Then we do what he would do… and defeat him."

"You say that like you can do it," Nene murmured. "You say that like you would do it."

Akari hesitated at the look on her face, at her friend's anxiety. Taiki would kill Yuu, would kill Nene's baby brother. He had no reason not to now.

He had nothing left to lose.

Then she smiled a bit, a weak smile. "I'm the one who's been taking care of him all this time, you know?" She stroked the fur on Cutemon's head. "I've helped bandage him, energize him, everything I could think of that could make his life even a little easier. If it would help him to be beaten… or even to die, I… I would do that."

"Why?"

Tears dripped onto her smile. "Because I'm scared of turning my back on him, too."

She was afraid. Nene was afraid. Just how far would it go… until they all were?

 


	4. Leavings

IV. Leavings

_"Part of life is letting go."_

_"Koto Slash!"_

It was a very dangerous move, that. He had just nearly cut the guy's arm off with a sword after all. However, Tsurugi Zenjirou was the master of stupid decisions and dangerous moves. So he only winced at his blade grazing that familiar gloved hand, tackling Yuu safely to the ground. He registered the blonde's surprised face and grinned with pride. _Not bad for a normal guy._

They both hit the dirt, coughing up dust. Taiki watched this with a small chuckle in his mouth. "Oh, I thought someone else would get involved at some point. Hello, Tsurugi Zenjirou-kun."

"I'm afraid I can't accept praise from you Kudo Taiki!" Zenjirou said, pointing his blade at the other boy. Mentally, he hissed. The curled lip, abyssal eyes, even the way he stood in the sand and dusty sky and smiled, they were not his rival in the slightest. There was no warmth in this. Therefore, he had no reason to hesitate on his attacks. Behind him, Yuu slowly attempted to stand. "Not when you're trying to shatter Nene-san's heart!"

"I'm trying to kill her actually," Taiki corrected, seeing the blade with one watchful eye. This time the scarlet wisps awoke and rushed forward, hitting the ground as Zenjirou pulled Yuu back. He kept his expression firm and voice even, but he shook internally. "Yuu-kun is first, however, due to the crimes of betrayal and murder."

Zenjirou scowled and charged forward to slice at Taiki's head. "Murder for murder isn't like… you."

"Suppose not," the boy conceded as he dodged, thrusting his palm forward. The energy crashed into Zenjirou's chest and he flew to smack into Yuu. "I don't think that's a big deal. That person was rather  _useless_. I had to let go of someone… like that."

"Useless?" Zenjirou shouted. "Useless, my ass!" He pushed himself back up. "I'll show you how useless you were, you General! You almost saved the world! You turned darkness into light! You believed in us when  _we_ didn't!"

"Indeed, but hope isn't enough anymore." Taiki sighed and stepped away from them. He turned away and walked off. "I'd love to stay, but…" He glanced back and smiled. The expression was sweet, like he had licked melted chocolate from his lips. "This chase needs to last a little longer. I want for  _that one_  to savor this moment, where the past is cut off forever. Maybe then, Yuu-kun will play with me."

He laughed. "I do enjoy a good game myself after all."


	5. Times

V. Times

_"Did we all once laugh together?"_

Zenjirou didn't speak a word while they ran. Mercy. They were surviving on mercy, frugal change these days. Yuu puffed anxiously, adrenaline having taxed his already shot energy reserves. "Keep going Yuu!" he urged when the other boy almost tripped. He didn't look back at the blonde, knowing how dangerous it would be in this situation. "We've almost reached Sparrowmon."

"I… I know Zenjirou-san," Yuu said weakly, pushing his legs forward. "I… that light…"

"What… about it?"

Yuu paused a moment, taking a few deep breaths to move with. "That… wasn't right…. Has Taiki-san ever had a red light around him?"

"Yes, but…" He slowly came to a halt, looking up at the sky. Yuu wheezed, rubbing anxiously at goosebumped arms. "Never like that. It was brighter then." He still kept his eyes away from Yuu, holding the Star Blade tighter in his hands. He was lucky it hadn't been crushed earlier. "Back then… we were young… and we had hope."

"You mean  _he_ did," Yuu said quietly, looking up to the sky for a large yellow blur to dive toward them.

Zenjirou nodded grimly. "He had enough for all of us… and we used him. We didn't want to betray him." His hands curled tightly until they bled, nails sinking into his palm. He watched Yuu climb on before swinging his blade behind him. The red energy crashed into it and threw him into the Digimon's wing. He coughed and Yuu yanked him up by his free hand. The Star Blade began to waver and the swordsman stared at it, willing it to keep its form.

 _"Forgive us, brother!"_  hissed a high, usually excitable voice.  _"The General… he hits hard!"_

"No kidding," Zenjirou puffed, climbing on and clutching Yuu's waist. "Sparrowmon, move!"

"How about a please?" The jet took off anyway, climbing into the sky as quickly as he dared.

Yuu winced. "Please Sparrowmon, we need to get back to Nee-san!"

"We  _need_ to defeat him!" Sparrowmon spun to the side and the scarlet wisps grazed one of his wings. His speed dipped only a moment before he flew off again. Taiki was running, chasing the quickly flying Digimon down the earth. "Sooner or later, he might learn to fly too!"

"At this time, wouldn't that be the least of your problems?" Taiki said, calling this from the ground. The scarlet light gleamed in his eyes alone, but the smile remained. "Please don't go too far away now, I want to fight together!"

Sparrowmon hissed. "Shut up! _Random Laser!"_  He raised his guns and fired. "I trusted you! You were supposed to protect Nene! I won't forgive you for this!"

"Sparrowmon, stop!" Yuu screamed over the Digimon's shouting. "It won't work!"

"I don't care!"

Taiki watched all of this with a small, slightly delicate sigh. "You just can't learn." He raised a hand. "We'll play some more tomorrow." The red light slammed directly into the jet's chest. The Digimon screamed, louder than either human as he soared backwards into the windy, clouded desert.

Taiki frowned. "Maybe I hit them too hard. I always thought they could get up from just about anything." A sigh. "Oh well… they have to be better than that if that angel thinks I'm the only one who can get rid of them. " Closing his black eyes, he vanished.


	6. Us

VI. Us

_"We all could pretend we were right."_

By the time they returned, beaten and exhausted, the dust had settled and there were no stars in the night sky. Yuu almost fell from Sparrowmon's chipped back, trembling. Nene hurried over to catch him, returning her Digimon back to its Xros Loader. Without a word, his sister hugged him tight, murmuring words he thankfully couldn't understand. Over his head, she gave Zenjirou a smile. Zenjirou's cheeks flushed with delight and he stepped inside. Instead of joining the siblings, however, he went to sit next to Akari. Her face was pale, even in the dark.

"Are you okay?" Mentally, he kicked himself. They were in between dimensions being hunted by her best friend.  _Okay_ was in nobody's dictionary. Despite this, she nodded, patting at the sand on the ground. "I'm still wondering how a place like this even exists."

"Taiki… he probably created it." Akari didn't glance at him even as she spoke those words, but, even still, there was a look on her face he knew well. He didn't question this idea. Out of all of them, he knew she understood this best. "This place is full of dust and debris, locked up and unchanging. That was… how the world was."

The quiet murmurs fell silent as she spoke. Akari's amber eyes looked toward the entrance of the cave, listless and amber. "This world… where only sadness and anger are spoken of freely, wasn't that the place we came from?"

"Akari-chan…" Nene murmured over her brother's head. She saw a rather manic look there, something unfortunate.

The redhead looked at her and smiled. "I don't hate our world, either one. However, I think Taiki does, at least a little bit. He wouldn't love it so much as to want to save it."

"He wanted to save it because Shoutmon did."

"Then why didn't he simply leave once Shoutmon died?" she asked sharply. "Stop pretending you know him. None of you know him. He wanted everyone to live." The last word cracked in her mouth and she stopped, looking away.

"I know he still does…"


	7. Specks

VII. Specks

_"Even light can be covered up."_

"You will never leave this place."

He smiled. "I know."

He held himself there, in the black and red world. There was really nothing to see here, nothing in this gap that enticed the eyes. So he kept them closed and let the voices wash over him. When he had first heard them, it had been one voice. Now there were many, with odd inflects.

Some were louder than others, some with more emotion, others flat as a board. Some said his name. Most avoided it.

"You could leave this place."

"I know."

They were always contradictory.

One was loud. "You need to leave."

Taiki only shrugged. "I don't really want to."

It was a bit late to tell a drowning man he could swim.


	8. Sand

VIII. Sand

_"Everything slips from my hands."_

For a long time, they all sat in the small cave. Zenjirou watched the sand whirl by in the wind. It was getting too dark to see. However, he would keep looking. When they had looked away the last time, they had lost Taiki to something. Even if Kiriha was like a rival to him, he wouldn't let him disappear either. He was the strongest person they had now. He gave the inside of the room a glance. Yuu dozed on his sister's lap, young face tight with anxiety. Akari, after her own outburst, was very quiet, and very still. He would have thought she were sleeping too, if not for the way Cutemon continued to whisper in her ear.

Zenjirou wondered what they were talking about. He wondered if Akari was crying. For her sake, he hoped she was crying.

"Zenjirou-kun?"

Reflexively, he stiffened at the sound of Nene's voice. He couldn't help it. "Y-Yes, Nene-san?"

She was silent, gathering thoughts seemingly from the air. "… Thank you… for protecting Yuu. I…"  _I wanted to be there._  She did not tell him this. She didn't have to. "Taiki-kun… what was he like?"

Zenjirou hesitated to answer, even as Akari's amber eyes fixed briefly on him. He didn't know how to explain it, how to explain his feelings, or anything. Yuu spoke instead, his voice slightly muffled. "He… he was still Taiki-san, but he wasn't either." Yuu rubbed his visible eye. "He was… really calm, determined. He acted just like Taiki-san would normally, but… but…"

"It was  _wrong_  somehow," Zenjirou finished. "It wasn't evil, however… I don't think my rival, I don't think Kudo Taiki would consider the situation the way he did. He would… he would never willingly think we betrayed him." Akari's silent nod from her place made him mentally sigh. "Also, when he attacked me… it was this red blast… it reminded me of the DigiXros… I felt something from it. I thought I heard a voice, a lot of voices, all of them whispering. None of them… not a single one made any sense."

Nene frowned in contemplation. Her fingers threaded through Yuu's blond hair. "Possession…" she murmured. "Like Kiriha-kun in Dust Zone?" She frowned. "Or perhaps it isn't possession at all but…"

"But what?"

Nene shook her head. "I don't know. The answer… I think I have it, however… it's probably still not right. There's too much we don't understand.  _Eternal Darkmare_  knocked us into the gap between dimensions… and then we ended up here only a few moments later. Then…"

"Taiki tried to kill us," Akari said quietly. "There's so much here... so much that we can't grasp."

She lifted a fistful of grit from the floor and watched it fall.


	9. Bitter

IX. Bitter

_"It hurts to swallow poison."_

There was dirt in his shoes.

He was grateful it wasn't in his eyes. The blonde brushed his hair from his face and grumbled. Still, he trudged on. How had he ended up here, by himself was either an irony or a contrived coincidence.

Aonuma Kiriha was a man who frequently believed in the former. Especially after all of this…

"Such a pensive expression you wear today, Aonuma Kiriha-san. Is today a memorial?"

Kiriha didn't even flinch in surprise or terror. He simply grunted, unwilling to budge an inch. "Yeah, I'm mourning your fighting spirit, you cowardly punk."

Taiki chuckled. "Couldn't I have once accused you of the same thing?" His black eyes flickered. "How many times did you fall down before you figured out standing up was a safer idea?" Kiriha shrugged as he continued his walk. Taiki's footsteps were almost inaudible in the crunch of the sand. "He's quite upset with me, you know? That angel you are so angry with."

"Because you aren't murdering me right now?" Kiriha finally stopped and whipped around, glaring at still water eyes.

The brunette smiled at this, shaking his head. "That's quite the possibility, but if that were so, wouldn't he just rip you to non-existence and be done with it?" The blond bristled, unable to disagree. "I wonder… what is he looking for?"

Kiriha scowled and marched over, lifting the brunette by the collar of his red and blue shirt. "Enough," he hissed. Taiki merely looked down at him, clearly too amused to care. "You are under his thumb, quit talking any other way!"

Taiki smiled again, hauntingly patient. "Am I really? Well, if you want to think that way, that's your business. Perhaps you will die easier if you do. You will be at peace if you believe I have not betrayed you." He pulled himself from Kiriha's grip and casually walked away.

"If that's what makes you happy~"


	10. Angel

X. Angel

_"I praised God and he struck me down."_

The air was crimson with his rage.

Bagramon was not loud in his fury. No, he was a quiet, thoughtful man. His anger never overwhelmed him. To Taiki, who stood now watching him sit on a throne of barbs, he looked like nothing overwhelmed him. Confident was he in his purpose, in perhaps his destiny.

This was something Taiki found amusing, in its own way.

He watched the red eyes bore into his skull. "Is something wrong?" He asked this pleasantly. How strange. Before, Bagramon had had the aura of a being far beyond a mere human like himself, as though he lay in another realm somewhere. What was he now?

"The new world awaits us."

"These things take time," Taiki reminded with a smile. He relished in the word "us". Even this one could become dependent on another. It made a flaw in him. Then again, in the few moments they have met and conversed, he had never claimed himself perfect. Not as…  _that one_ … had done….

Yet… who was  _that one_?

"Why trouble yourself with it?"

Taiki raised an eyebrow, pouting slightly. "You shouldn't reach into people's minds like that," he chided.

"You are not a person," Bagramon reminded with a careless wave of his bone arm. "I am, therefore, not reaching into a mind at all." The boy hummed at this; his only indication of disagreement. It was not truly verbalized, so the statement remained fact. It was something that, due to his oddly humming conscious, Taiki could not dispute at the moment. He had time to do so, he knew, but just as he could pull himself from the drowning water if he chose, he chose not to. That was a curse of apathy.

Perhaps that was the biggest gap in his heart: he had forgotten how to care.


	11. Servitude

XI. Servitude

_"These cuffs burn at my wrists."_

"Why are they not dead?"

"Hmm?"

Perhaps Bagramon was less capable of patience than he thought.

"The children. I threw them into that little gap for you to play with." He sat back on the ornate throne, looking at the cave-like ceiling with feigned interest. "You even made them a pen to play in. Are you not  _bored_?"

"You've sat on a throne too long," Taiki mused, peaceful smile almost widening and splitting his cheeks like knives. Bagramon, if he had eyebrows, would have quirked one. Instead, he rested his cheek on his gloved, real arm and smiled.

The fallen angel's curiosity, as it so rarely could be, was horribly piqued. This human was the one who had almost frightened him before. He was such an intriguing child, broken or not. "How so, boy?" It would almost be a sin in his new world to call him by name. He too, was only temporary.

"Hmm, hmm…" The boy hummed his amusing little ditty once more before he answered. "You've forgotten how interesting of a game it is to let people create their own ending. You don't trust them to bring the game to its satisfying conclusion."

Bagramon's frown deepened. "Get out."

Taiki raised an eyebrow before bowing delicately. "Seems I've offended you. Ta then." He exited the room, mentally chuckling to himself. Even a fallen to hell could be harmed by words.

Inside, the emperor glared at the air only meters where the boy had been standing before. That voice, undeniably strong and burning with resolve, came back to him. It returned in a place it should not have been able to reach.

_"See, I knew it! You don't trust anyone. You don't believe in anyone. What kind of king is that? Don't worry though: the one who will become the Digimon King… is me!"_

Nothing to be done on that. The fool, Shoutmon, was dead. The rest would soon be, once playtime ended.


	12. Return

XII. Return

_"There's no home for me here."_

His legs swung back and forth. Taiki looked wistfully up at the large, cavernous ceiling. He would quite like to sleep today. Being at less than your best was unfulfilling for a fun game, no matter what side you played for. Yet the voices were so loud and imploring, he couldn't find it in him to be concerned about the potential weakness.

"This isn't you," whispered one in a deep, lonely growl.

"You are… stronger… than this," said another, stilted and heavy words.

Taiki laughed. It was almost an obscene giggle, slightly haughty but still gentle. "What does strength have to do with anything?"

"He… chose you… for it… for your kindness."

The boy tilted his head. "Who chose me? And for what? Who took me from my home?"

"Your… best friend." The growling was angry now. It made the red Xros Loader shake on the desk. "You know, the guy who you saved? The one who you gave the ability to become king?"

"Oh…" Taiki shrugged. "Can't say I can recall the face of someone like that… someone who used a vessel like this until there was nothing left… you'd think I would." He chuckled. "I'll remember one of these days."

There was silence. Then in the middle of heartbeats, one of them said. "You aren't him."

Taiki smiled, closing his eyes and rolling over. "I can't be a dead man."


	13. Song

XIII. Song

"I've turned to a shyer tune."

It was hard for Yuu to sleep that night. His dreams filtered voices he didn't even understand. At one point, he thought he heard singing. It was… rather disconcerting. He squirmed where he lay, feeling Nene's thin hand resting against his back. Sister…

How much had she suffered looking for someone like him? How much had she bled and cried for him? Why had she done it? For that matter, why had Taiki helped her? There was so much he didn't know, so little he had been able to grasp in this world. He wondered what Taiki-san grasped on his journey. Had it been good? Had it merely been a lie that with one loss, his beliefs had crumbled?

"Are you sure you could handle the answer to that question?"

His eyes opened wide and Taiki was there. As Sparrowmon had feared, he was floating. There was, to his surprise, no smile. Instead, a tiny frown was present there and the normal red light was a stormy grey. He looked down at Yuu and the smile did not form as it usually did. It seemed as though the former General was thinking, and very strongly at that. Yuu opened his mouth but Taiki put a finger to his lips.

"Not just yet, Amano Yuu-kun." There was the smile, patient, unyielding, highly, sweetly entertained. His voice filtered only into Yuu's head, completely at ease with his own surroundings. His dark eyes glanced over the sleeping children. There was fondness there, a pleasure of a sibling knowing his little family is all right. "I'm here just to drop something off is all."

He knows where we are. Yuu's thoughts swirled in a panic. He always had to know and he clearly could kill them at any time he chose. But what was he waiting for?

Taiki's eyes returned to him. "You know, you all are so vulnerable right now. If it was possible, I would keep playing the game right now." He let out a tiny, theatrical sigh. "Sadly, it is not my choice. It is his. He still needs convincing, you see. He doesn't know if he is doing the right thing. This new song is harsh to him.'

"However, I'm confident that he will give in soon enough and give me an answer. He has caused you so much pain. It's only natural he'd want to get rid of it for you."

"Who," Yuu mouthed. Taiki only smiled and shook his head.

_"I'm not at liberty to sing his song for you."_


	14. Gem

XIV. Gem

_"You used to be beautiful."_

Tears were a weapon.

They were a pristine, frail diamond. He couldn't use them; he couldn't rely on them. They were weakness. Yet he was weak.

"That's why you are here, you know. These silly, little thoughts of yours. There's nothing wrong with weakness after all."

 _"There's everything wrong with_  my  _weakness."_

"That would be because people are fools, yourself included." A smile, cool as glass. "Don't forget who chose you, who accepted you and your diamond soul. I will wait eternity for your decision, until there's no such thing as time and space for you to stand up for everything you desire. I will wait for that little jewel of light."

_"I don't...remember... stuff like that."_

"Give it time. You will. Give it time and you will understand. Hurry though... time doesn't like you as much as I do."

_"I'll try..."_

"If you can encourage that boy, but not yourself, does that not make you a hypocrite?"

_"...Does it...?"_

"I would assume it someday, child. But for now, rest. I still have tasks to complete after all."


	15. Motive

XV. Motive

_"I don't need to justify myself."_

_Why are you here?_  Yuu had mouthed this the best he could and Taiki had only smiled. For a few moments, the boy had been oddly, pulsing quiet. His black eyes were gentle and unfocused. Yuu had almost considered attacking him. But then he had noticed the grey wisps curling around the other's form were turning black like thunder. He had seen the red light in the eyes growing like pupils in the dark. And for a moment, someone else had looked out through those eyes. It wasn't Taiki-san, but it wasn't the parody of him either. It was something that did not seem to care for him, or for anyone. It didn't even seem to care for himself.

Then it cleared and Yuu thought he had never been so relieved about anything in his life. Even fear was nothing compared to emptiness.

Taiki let out a soft, pitying sigh.  _"Poor thing is still so confused. You left quite a number on him, didn't you?"_

"What do you mean, 'we' did?" Yuu felt his sister's arm tighten around his shoulders as Taiki looked down at her violet eyes. For a moment, the pair of them stared at each other, neither furious as they ought to have been. In fact they were smiling at one another. Taiki looked at ease, while Nene's was a look completely unfamiliar to him. It was anticipatory, excitedly so. She wanted to fight him. She wanted to face Taiki, not that there wasn't a Yuu standing in front of her to deny her or a Kiriha to show off and thrust pride in her way.

It was unbelievable, particularly for his sweet, earnest big sister.

However, she was also the biggest mother bear he had ever met, barring only Akari at this very moment.

Taiki licked his lips with a small flourish.  _"You left him alone. He has never left you._ " He didn't sound accusing. He didn't even sound upset. Nene shuddered mentally, keeping her gaze firm on his own. She knew in that instant, that her thoughts were right.

"What happened when Shoutmon died?"

The words were undeniably quiet, but at last, at long last, Taiki reacted. It was not what Yuu imagined; it wasn't even cracking. It was just a very loud and very simple snap. It was a rubber band, a firecracker, and the sound was not so much imaginary as it was a physical presence knocking into their bodies.

When the noise reverberated through their skulls, forcing each and every one of them awake, they were all paralyzed by the sound of laughter. "The truth," Taiki said with so much delight in his voice, once black eyes glowing with a spiral of red. "I discovered the truth and that person and finally, I was finally set free."

"What truth... would that be?" Akari was struggling to sit up, Cutemon wriggling frantically in her arms.

The eyes rested on her and the abyssal, red pupils abruptly turned a vivid purple. Red light swam to run around her shadow. "You know best Akari-kun," he whispered, looking at her, truly looking as he hadn't at Yuu. Pride was welling into those eyes, pride and excitement.

Akari did not tremble, or shiver, or even hesitate as she replied. "You were abandoned by everyone, weren't you?"


	16. Void

XVI. Void

_"There is no end to us."_

"Everyone abandoned you... isn't that right?"

She looked at him, looked at his malice-free eyes, and paused. Her eyes narrowed and despite the crackling in the air and the darkness trying to seep into her skin, she rose to her feet. "No... that's not it at all. That's not you at all, is it?"

Taiki smiled at her, even as the others looked on in hesitation. Then, before he could answer, a tan arm wrapped around his throat and threw him to the ground. Aonuma Kiriha stood over him, hands resting at his throat. Taiki practically giggled at this, laughing through what had to be the pain of shins in his ribs. He giggled so hard, his cheeks flushed pink. "I thought you would never get here Aonuma Kiriha-kun! You took... so... long, I was getting bored!"Kiriha didn't answer, even as the boy laughed and laughed. "So close Kiriha-kun, so  _close._ I thought you could do better... but... I... guess..." Red wisps became a solid glow and crashed into Kiriha's chest. "Not!" Kiriha went flying, landing flat on his back by Yuu's face. The elder coughed and slowly rolled over. Taiki stood back up and turned back to Akari. His face was childlike and focused on her, as though trying to absorb some long forgotten feature of her face.

Akari, to her credit, stared right back. Her legs didn't tremble or shudder. Instead, she stood like a queen, smile on her face, disconcerting, gleaming eyes. They were a cat's eyes trying to out stare a black hole. She looked at the black pits and grinned like Taiki was grinning. She had an answer now. With that simply assumption, she had a possibility of an answer. Maybe it wasn't entirely accurate, but it was there and that would be enough.

At least, it would be for her.

She took a step and nothing happened, save the way Nene's breath lodged itself in the tunnels of her throat. It wasn't out of fear. A quick side-glance told her that. Nene was shaking with the urge to move and punch one -or both- of them and give Kiriha the chance to stand. Recognizing this, Akari kept walking, watching her best friend stand slowly to his feet. It was not a shaky movement, rather fluid. The red wisps suddenly began to make noises, almost like music notes and birds in one demented package. They rushed toward her, though Taiki had not moved. One grazed her cheek and made it bleed. She kept walking. One wrapped around her arm and began to burn it. She winced, but kept walking.

Taiki waited. To him, there was probably endless time, endless space, endless realities to wait through for her, for them to make their choice. For everyone to make their choices.

He was probably right.

Standing only arm's length from him, she held out a hand for him to take. "Let me hear the song."

"If I refuse?" Taiki asked amicably.

"Then take us all." Akari's challenge was met with a smile. "I want the truth, and clearly, I'm not going to get it from  _you_. So I want the song."

They were all silent, as though the dimension they stood was holding its breath. Taiki then let out a hum. The nursery rhyme left his lips in an obscene gesture at delight. "You are so much fun Akari-kun. So much. No wonder the song is for you." Before they could breathe, he took Akari's hand and they vanished together.


	17. Noise

XVII. Noise

_"Don't listen to the liars."_

The world she entered was vague and darkly colored. It reminded her of melted chocolate cherry ice cream, dribbling down her skin and sticking like blood. Akari looked around, and found herself almost completely along. The song was here, she knew, but so vague and indistinct it might as well have been mocking notes on a broken staff. She wanted to call out a name, but her throat closed on her in shame.

_Did we call for you once?_

"No, you didn't." Eyes bored into and she whipped around. No one was there. "No one did. They probably meant to, but no one did." A hand rested on her throat and stroked it, fingers running up her cheek. They were curious fingers, almost pawing at the curve of her jaw. Yet they avoided her lips and eventually pulled away. Then they returned, almost resting on her eyes. Akari went still and a tiny sigh left his lips. "You're scared of me."

She sighed. "I've always been scared of you."

"Is that why you haven't looked for me?"

Akari hesitated. "... It could be." She wasn't a good soother. She had never been, but to the song, there was no point to it.

"Why?"

Akari flinched, watching the fingers pull away from her eyes. Instead of speaking, she reached out and clutched the clammy fingers. The person froze. Even though she couldn't see the song, she could suddenly hear it, wisps and whispers of piano notes. "Because you're a good person," she decided after a moment. "And good people are scary. They do the right thing even if they shouldn't do it. And you did."

"It didn't stop him from dying," murmured the song rather thoughtfully in her eyes. Then she lost grip of the hand, Taiki pulling it away to stare with patience, too much patience. Too much joy.

"Oh, now, now," he murmured gently. "You shouldn't lie to him. You abandoned him because you forgot him. You  _must_  get it right."


	18. Hills

XVIII. Hills

_"They all went tumbling down."_

Bagramon reached a hand to his temple and then sighed. The Dark Stone, power incarnate it was, pulsed with wriggling tendrils of black and gold. It shifted and swam. It did not like him. No, worse. It resisted him. It was struggling, burning to leave him.

To go to its real bearer.

He was not a fool. He had  _taken_  it, while its owner, whoever that may be, had  _earned_  it. Compassion, compulsion, whatever may have caused this, Kudo Taiki had called to the Dark Stone through its confinement. It wanted to answer him. However, it could not do so to someone who would not hear.

Oh yes, Bagramon had made carefully sure Taiki-kun, his most worthy opponent in centuries, could not hear. his resolve had cracked, and he was determined to keep it broken.

It was a pity. He respected Taiki's resolve, and his ideal. Even though Shoutmon was the conduit for such a thing, there was no denying that, leave the child be, and he would shape a world more solid than any mere pretend game.

However, he was still just a human boy. They could be silly, fragile things, those humans. Fragility was exploitable.

The Dark Stone pulsed again and he smiled. "Yes Taiki-kun, remember," he said softly to the room at large. "They are frightened of you, of your power. They hate you, because you are everything they cannot dream of. You should not hate them, however. They cannot help themselves. And you love them too much, for they are your friends. Save them, Taiki-kun. It is too late for your world, but for your loved ones, there is time. Save them."

He did not laugh, watching the Dark Stone pulse with his words. It heard him; he knew it did. It did not matter. If taking what he wanted was not an option, he could convince the hero of what was.

Who knew; it could even convince Taiki-kun all on its own. It wasn't as though the boy had a reason to do otherwise anymore.

_My words will tumble down, and a child's soul with them._


	19. Rocks

XIX. Rocks

_"Ever hear such a wild cry?"_

She was finally here.

He had watched for it, waited for one of them to show up. It had been a long time, a very long time.

Or had it been? He had no idea really. Time and space didn't exist in this place. That was something they didn't understand. If they had, would everyone be here now, being chased by his friend?

The Digimon sighed, the noise abnormally quiet. He didn't need to understand everything. It wasn't like he understood much of anything. He never had.

He did know... that she could change things, if she really tried. If she really held out her hand, Taiki would take it. But she had to mean it, as he had meant it back on that day.

Shoutmon wasn't sure they could do that at this point.

Oh eventually, they would be able to. They could find the answer someday. There was no doubt in his mind that that would come. Could they do it right now, when he needed them to, was something he worried about.

Because Taiki couldn't hear him, couldn't hear much of anyone. He could hear that lying bastard, but Shoutmon did his absolute damnedest to keep him away. He couldn't help it; Bagramon angered him. Okay, he pissed him off. Taking advantage of someone like that, out of fear, that wasn't the way a king did things. Unfortunately, trying to prove that resulted in him being here... inside the Dark Stone.

He wished his best friend would would make him feel a little less guilt.

"You shouldn't lie to him. You abandoned him because you forgot him. You must get it right."

Yes, they had abandoned Taiki in a way. They abandoned his heart, and he was trying to bring them back to it in any way he could.

it didn't make Bagramon's whispers any more right. And someday, he could kill the angel for making Taiki believe they were.

It would take time, and Shoutmon was anything but patient.


	20. Truth

XX. Truth

_"A pain so gentle leads to cold."_

Akari looked at the black eyes and shook her head, face pale and stringy red locks flopping awkwardly by her shoulders. "He threw us apart."

"Oh yes," Taiki agreed easily enough. "He did. Yet you never sought the song out, or rather, they didn't. You were indisposed at the time." A small sigh left his lips. "Such a shame, it wishes to be more beautiful than it is."

Akari shifted, agitation rising from her shoulders to her eyes. She didn't speak, watching taiki move restlessly to the side. He could never stay still for very long. That was the right gesture for him to do, walk around and shift himself, occupy his body so his mind could focus. Yet it was too practiced, even for him. Her lip curled, yet she remained quiet again.

Taiki turned on her, the red wisps singing the song in the frailest timbre of a voice she had ever heard. They almost lunged, yet they waited.  _Are they waiting for me? Are they hoping I have an answer?_

_Or... do they know my answer?_

"Well now," hummed the boy in front of her. "What are you going to do?"

Akari paused. Then... her fists clenched and she crouched. "I'm getting my friend back... no matter what! And... you...  _aren't_  him!" She leaped to tackle him to the ground. He leaped aside to catch her wrist, but she grinned, spinning her foot to kick into his stomach. He coughed, but only a little. Just enough for her to laugh and laugh with delight.

"I don't know where he is... but you do. So... all I need to do at this moment... is beat it out of you."

Taiki blinked slowly... then he grinned, that sweet smile back on his lips. "I'm not allowed to make it easy for you, you know."

He snapped his fingers... and then she fell.


	21. Duality

XXI. Duality

_"I will never leave you."_

_"... Why did you do that?"_

"You wanted me to, Taiki," the boy answered. He raised a hand glowing red, and ran it down his face. The black eyes remained, now followed by darker spikes of formerly brown hair. "She confused you. She believes you are good. What do you believe?"

_"..."_

"See? You needed to think."

_"... I ran away."_

"Hmm... yes, I don't disagree with that. She might dislike that fact; they all might. But everyone does it once in a while, so it can't be quite as bad as you fear. As long as you eventually turn around."

_"Do you want me to turn around?"_

"I want what you want. I am yours, after all. I chose you. And now you have to choose. The world will change, but they cannot do it... without you."

_"... I can't be that important."_

"You are to them, and to me. And I will change everything for you, but first you must decide into what."

_"I don't know... what I want."_

"How about happiness? Skies know we all desire it. Perfection is a possibility, yet a boring one." The boy smiled. "Come Taiki. I know in your heart... there is a world you want. It was how this began. You've just been fighting against that want." He leaned into the abyss and smiled. "You want to stop running, my master? Then fight. Fight who you fought before. This time, I am with you and we will win."

_"But..."_

"He will be with you, in spirit if not in body. He is well known for having a spirit."

There it was, the laugh it had been waiting for, the smile it had needed. "... I'll go."

 _"Oh good."_  And the boy began to shimmer, turning into sparks of scarlet.  _"Then it's time for us to dance together, like we were supposed to."_


	22. Fantasy

XXII. Fantasy

_"I can make a real place."_

He flexed his fingers slowly. They felt alien to him, thin and ready to crack. Taiki had felt like this a long time ago... but it had been such a long time ago. He had been a child then. He was still a kid, he realized.

However, he was the kid with the remote control.

Taiki found himself smiling. It wasn't chocolate-sweet, he knew that. But as he fell towards a familiar world, one of his own making, he found it suited him the best right now. Taiki touched the ground easily, the sand brushing his shoes. Once again, he looked down at the others. For the first time in what seemed to be ages, he saw them. He saw them all. Zenjirou had picked up Akari, held her close. He was glad, even at the sight of their glares. They would be safe like that. He saw Yuu, whose face was no longer shining with tears. Something familiar glimmered in his eyes. It was under his fear, the threatening to choke fear, and it filled him with relief. He could do this. They  _could do this_.

Kiriha rose to his feet and moved. Taiki glanced at him and thought.  _He will fall._  It was a rather distant thought, troubled by almost nothing but the wind. Kiriha choked and collapsed. Taiki smiled again and whispered the closest thing he had to farewell. He had no choice. The game had to be played to the very end. After watching the Code Crown do its work, he understood now. If something was not finished, nothing new would begin. He had to complete their illusion; it would keep them safe.

He looked outside the cave and thought again. Open the door. The air ripped, creating a black tear.

"Tai...ki..."

He smiled at Akari's voice. "Not yet." Without hesitation, he stepped through.

Bagramon stared down at him. "You remembered, have you?"

"Not the way you've liked," he heard himself reply, red light wrapping delicately around each finger. "But yes."

The angel drew in a breath and Taiki sighed.  _Shoutmon, let's go._

_"About damn time."_


	23. Favor

XXIII. Favor

_"We will all have our answers."_

Yuu felt a weariness in his bones.

He had no idea what was going on anymore.

They had grabbed Akari, who was somehow semi-conscious and injured, and then, within minutes, Taiki was there. It was just like the first time. Except even he could feel that it wasn't.

_The supreme nothing in those eyes said everything. But those weren't the same eyes._

The ones that had stared at each of them were grey, yet the red light had not left them, intense and full of... relief. Relief? That they were still alive? That the game was still going? What reason could he have to feel that now, or ever? He, who was trying to kill them, who was he to look so... proud?

Well, Yuu decided, he wouldn't die. He couldn't. His friend... he had already died. He had already... told him... not to lose to anyone. So Yuu wouldn't lose.

Taiki's smile was so faint; it was, by some standard, almost beautiful. He looked at them all and spoke, words that were so gentle it carved a painful wound into his chest.

Quite like the first time. For a moment, he felt his tears trying to burn the corners of his eyes. Then he pulled them back and glared.

The voice spoke, rather a murmur. It was almost inaudible, over the sound of the air ripping. "May you choose life."

Akari stirred weakly. "Tai...ki..." Her amber eyes, even semi-conscious, were raw, hurt.

He shook his head. "Not yet." He vanished.

The silence in the air was practically screaming. "What... what  _was_  that?" Nene whispered.

"Him," Zenjirou said quietly. "Who else?"

Kiriha shook his head. "Not what you meant... was it?"

Nene shook her head. "I... that was... that was Taiki-kun... but it wasn't him either. It was the other one. They were both standing in the same place... and..." She clicked her tongue, eyes swirling around the room for the right words.. "Asking the same thing." Her violet gaze locked on the black tear in front of them and she reached her free hand to rest on her Xros Loader. "May you choose life. May you choose to fight."

Yuu wriggled from her side and slowly pulled himself to his feet. She wanted something, more than she had when she had hunted him. That look was back in her eyes again, and a smile was rising on her face. It was dangerous and even a little chilly. Yet... he liked seeing it there. There was a resolve he didn't have... or thought about.

_Well, why don't you?_

That voice again. _Because I'm scared. Because there's no way to change anything._

_Are you really someone who gives up that easily? Aren't you stronger than that?_

_I don't know!_

_Then find out. Because I am._

Tears of realization welled up in his eyes and he wiped them away. "I'm going," he announced and without looking back, he bolted into the black portal.

Taiki-san... his sempai had  _always_  been looking out for him.


	24. XXIV. Discord

XXIV. Discord

 _"No one is really right._ "

He was looked down upon as freely as a cockroach. "I was trying to keep you ignorant."

"You almost succeeded," Taiki mused. "Except... you didn't just kill me."

"Mild mishap. It will be corrected now, since I no longer am required to humor you."

"Wonder why you chose to in the first place." Taiki thought further and imagined deeper. The Dark Stone, the Code Crown rather, purred. It loved this; it loved life and it loved power. It was such a dangerous thing to wield. Yet... he could not stop. It was much too late to stop now, more than it had ever been. He stepped forward with caution. There wouldn't be any traps, not from Bagramon, who was of more honor than his own subordinate. He would simply give a chance... and then exploit it.

Shoutmon let out a quiet, rough snarl.  _"Puttin' too much faith in that thing."_

_"As much as I have with you? Are you jealous?"_

_"Pfft. No... okay just a bit."_  They both laughed a little. _"Eh, let's get this fight over with. I have a kingdom to build."_

Bagramon looked down at him, at the glittering smirk in those eyes. "Are you believing you have a chance? You, who lost your resolve so quickly?"

He earned a shrug. "I won't know until I try."

Bagramon smiled. "I suppose you don't... however... I wonder if they deserve your devotion, your friends."

"More than DarkKnightmon deserved yours," Taiki countered softly.

A chuckle escaped the fallen angel. "And as you deserve Shoutmon's?"

Taiki winced, even as his partner howled. _"Come here and say that to my face, you bastard! You don't know a thing about faith! Come on! I'll kick your as_ s!"

The General shushed him, even as contentment lit up his face. "I don't deserve it," he said, and ignored the sound of complete and utter disbelief in his friend's voice. "I can't convince him to be anything but loyal. So we're stuck together... and..." He grinned. _Let me fight._  "You're stuck fighting us until the very end."

In his heart, the Code Crown sang and glowed red, reacting to his wish, to his reality.

Once more, he would create.


	25. Reach

XXV. Reach

_"The world is in my hand."_

When the fight began, Taiki knew not to jump. He ducked below a large bone finger and rolled, landing near the throne the man had stood from. He knew Bagramon's power was immense, but as the red light continued to roll off his hands and his skin, he realized he didn't care. Taiki couldn't care. It was that little apathetic part of him that sang right now, telling him where to go and what to do. He hummed and clambered up the elaborate chair, standing there.

"So your technique is to run?" Bagramon intoned. He lifted his right hand and a dark red orb formed in its palm. It soared forward and Taiki raised his arms.

_Serial XX: Record._

A disc swirled and blocked the red orb. As it spun electricity crackled, and Taiki grimaced.  _"Playback!"_  he snapped and the red orb went bursting back towards the fallen angel. Bagramon moved to let it crash feet away and saw Taiki's smile.

"Well, look at this," Bagramon mused. "You're integrating more positively than I expected."

"Call it a quirk," Taiki said, snapping forward. _"Serial VII: Ice."_  Ice rained down from the ceiling and stabbed, only to be cast aside by the opponent.

_Master, if you're not careful, you'll wear yourself out. The transition sequence-_

_Has only just started, I know. Don't worry, I know what I'm doing._

_That's precisely what is concerning me._

Taiki chuckled and lunged, dodging a glancing blow. "Come on Bagramon, aren't you trying to kill me?" In the man's chest, a red light pulsed and he grimaced, causing Taiki to smile. "Hah, it doesn't like that does it?"

"It prefers a faithless child over a king?"

"You..." Taiki leaped, smashing his fists downward towards the angel's head. "Aren't a king! Shoutmon is the only king the Digital World will ever need!"

"You can't crown a dead man."

Taiki smiled as Yuu pulled himself from the black tear Taiki had left. "Watch me."


	26. Possession

XXVI. Possession

_"Once something is truly lost."_

Yuu blinked in utter disbelief as Taiki landed behind him, standing rather casually in a predator's crouch. "There you are," the other said,as nonchalantly as if they had met on the street. "Have you found your answer yet?"

Yuu hesitated as Taiki's eyes trained back on the opponent before them. There were so many questions he wanted to ask right now, such as why he wasn't being killed, or why his senpai was looking at him as though he had all of the answers. Then, he found himself flat on his back. Taiki had moved, spinning a red light into the air and firing back into Bagramon's chest.

The angel let out a laugh. "Do you think you can defeat me with counters, boy? You, who lack any remote idea of power?"

"Neh, I never said I could  _beat_  you by myself," Taiki commented with a frown. As he spoke these words, a staff began to swirl into existence, spinning gradually into the shape of a microphone. _Serial XL: Recollection._  He heard Shoutmon's characteristic roar and smiled. "It's thanks to you that I've truly understood that. Thanks, but..." He paused to examine Yuu's bewildered expression. His own was frighteningly solemn, the grey eyes holding that tint of red once again. "We need others to survive, to flourish. You wanted me to take those others away. If that would keep them by my side... then of course... I know I'm weak enough to do it." Yuu froze in the act of sitting up.

"But that isn't how things work," Taiki continued, stepping towards the enemy with that calm smile, his real smile, returning to his face. "Once things truly die, they are dead. There's no reunion for them. There's no way to save them. You tried to make me believe there was. For that..." He closed his eyes and concentrated, remembered his partner's exuberance. "I'm sorry Bagramon, but you cannot see the new world we will create. Not for a long, long time."

Taiki didn't look at Yuu as he placed something precariously on the ground by Yuu's knees. He charged toward Bagramon and their attacks met. The human hand held the microphone back. Taiki grimaced, pushing forward with a sudden hiss of pain. His hands screeched in pain and the rough metal made them bleed. Red wisps wrapped around him once more, reaching for his hands.

_Master, you're going to have to bear with this for a long time. That boy is not ready._

_Then go help him. I can handle this for a while._  He heard a sound like an angry cat and sighed.  _Please. Go. I'll be fine._

_If you die, so does he._

_I'll remember that._

The red light coalesced and left Taiki, going to circle around Yuu in a swirl. He could only stare at it in helpless confusion, even as his sister and the others finally appeared within the mess of whatever was going on.

 _Well, go on._  Yuu watched the wisps, watched them flow over his head like feathers.  _Take it,_  they said.

Yuu shook his head. He couldn't do it. He couldn't take the Darkness Loader back. If he had it, he would...

He would go right back to his own cruelty.


	27. Unity

XVII. Unity

_"A knot is only as strong as its threads."_

Taiki crashed to the ground, rolling at Kiriha's feet. He coughed and glanced at the blond for only a moment. Then he grinned, looking sheepish. "Apologies later?" he offered. Kiriha grunted.

"I owe you a punch or two from Dust Zone," he replied. "What the hell is going on?" Nene was glancing between them and Bagramon as though wondering where to shoot first. Inwardly, Taiki sighed in relief. They  _understood_. Nene silently made her decision, pointing the Xros Loader's screen toward the one on Taiki's belt. Both glowed and lights swiftly returned to Taiki's, leaving the boy to smirk a little.

Taiki then returned the microphone staff to an upright position, twirling it so the pointed end was facing like a spear. "Well, if you  _can't_  tell, I'm insane and fighting Bagramon..." Kiriha and Zenjirou snorted in perfect unison. "And we're doing something risky to get Shoutmon back."

"I think we're talking about that, Taiki-kun." Nene gestured to the red light wrapping around Yuu and Taiki himself. Akari only rolled her eyes and released Cutemon, who waddled over and examined Taiki's leg with critical black eyes.

Taiki gave a small, sheepish grin. "Oh that. It's the Code Crown. It's trying to help Yuu, like I asked it to."

Kiriha stared at the red General for a moment before letting out a sigh. "You  _asked_... the Code Crown?"

He got a nod and a step forward. "Nothing else will keep him safe while he makes his decision. So I asked the Code Crown to do it. It... somehow... got attached to me." Taiki shook his head. "I don't quite understand it myself... but it's been attached to me for a while now. So... help me?" As this plea was spoken, a crash came from a nearby wall. Digimon streamed in, most of them troops. Guns were trained on the nearby humans and Kiriha let his lips make a painful smile.

"Sounds interesting..." He lifted his Xros Loader, meeting Bagramon's scarlet eyes firmly with his own. "Reload! Blue Flare!" He glanced back at Nene and looked towards Yuu. "Nene, if anyone can help Yuu figure this out, it's you. I'll cover you."'

"If you expect me not to fight," Nene began.

"If you don't fight, I will be ashamed," Kiriha interrupted, watching Taiki head very purposefully towards Bagramon. There was still one thing missing in this fight, some one thing that was lingering at the edge of his mind. What was it? He couldn't remember... "But Yuu is a General, and he needs to  _act_  like it." Nene hesitated before hurrying away. Kiriha returned his eyes to his troops, continuing to think.

Meanwhile, Taiki coughed, a horrible choking noise. Liquid ran up his throat and he swallowed it back. Shoutmon let out a wordless snarl and he ignored him, continuing his advance.

_We are together... and the illusion is still whole. What's left?_

The Code Crown answered. _Memory._


	28. XXVIII. Spine

XXVIII. Spine

_"Sometimes it is hard to be brave."_

Yuu glared hard at the Darkness Loader, willing it to shatter into thousands of pieces. If a few went into his eyes, well, so much the better. He would not pick it up, no matter what that strange light said. It would taint him again, destroy him. How could Taiki-san assume he would take it? How could he think Yuu was as strong as him to step up and get back up again on his own? Even if it was cowardly, he would rather run away.

 _I can't let you do that,_  the light said to him.  _My master believes in us. I will not let him down._

_I don't care._

_Well, that's too bad. Because I do. Because you want to save this world, right? Take the damn thing._

_I won't!_

"Yuu?" Nene sat down in front of him, her own fingers inches away from the Darkness Loader. "What are you doing?" He looked into her eyes, expecting sympathy. It was there, but there was a hard gleam to them.

"I can't take it, Nee-san. I can't. If I do, I'll just... I'll just keep hurting everything." His fists clenched at his sides. "I don't... I don't want to hurt anyone... like Damemon..."

"Damemon chose his death freely. He lied about this truth, but he protected you. You didn't make him do anything."

"I made him fight!" The protest welled out of his chest with tears.

"Then so did I," she said to him. " I made Sparrowmon fight. Kiriha is making his partners fight. Taiki-kun is forcing himself to fight as he once made Shoutmon fight. We're no better."

"You didn't make them torture themselves!"

"And you did." Nene shook her head as she shifted her legs on the throne room floor. It shook with the rumble of large feet and roaring flames. "And you're going to make me fight next." Yuu shook his head at her, horrified. "Then why are you not stopping me right now? I could take the Darkness Loader, couldn't I? I know I have the heart for it. And you  _want_  me to, don't you Yuu?" Her purple eyes narrowed with a slow, burning anger. "You want me to do this for you. Because I'm your big sister... and I want to protect you. Right?"

Guilt, shame over a thought he had never realized was in his head until it was said aloud, it washed over him, crushing his skin and making the tears fall. "Face your battles Yuu," Nene said, looking down at him as she rose. "No one can face them for you, not even the ones with yourself. You can do it. I know you can." She raced towards the clashing mass of monsters, leaping onto Sparrowmon's back with one smooth motion.

Yuu just sat there, not even seeing the light anymore. Was he really, really that bad, even without the Darkness Loader in his hands? Was he really... such a monster?

"Ano... Yuu-kun."

Akari was smiling a little, a sheepish expression on her face. "Nene-san... she doesn't blame you, you know. She understands... that it hurt a lot... and that you're really confused. I think... she's trying to tell you that... sitting here and letting things happen... it won't help you figure out what you want to do, you know? I know you think Taiki's a superman and all because he's not like that, I could see that earlier, but... he's not. He's just like you and me; but he's out there doing things. If you really want to understand him... and you really want to atone for what you've done, then... you kind of need to do something, or it won't end."

She looked back to the battle and then her eyes widened as she saw her best friend go flying into a crystal pillar. He slid to the ground and Akari bolted, standing in front of him without outstretched arms. Bagramon's bone arm glowed red and swung-

Yuu didn't think; he reacted. His fingers wrapped around the Darkness Loader and he screamed from his very soul:

"Reload! Shoutmon!"


	29. XXIX. Soul

XXIX. Soul

_"Don't underestimate the power of rock-n'-roll."_

That should have been impossible.

But, Yuu realized, looking at the glowing device, it clearly wasn't. The Darkness Loader continued to burn at his fingers, twisting and morphing in his palm. It was heavier than he remembered, pushed down by an insane pressure from above. A tornado of data burst from the screen, throwing itself in the way of Akari's body. The mic left Taiki's hand and he relaxed as the red dragon burst into existence with a roar.

"What the _hell_  do you think you're doing?" Shoutmon swung his mic into the red hand and pushed back Bagramon, grinning. "You think I'll let you have the worlds that easily?"

"Perhaps I had a moment of delusion... as you have," Bagramon countered, pushing him back with a wave. Shoutmon snorted,watching Akari support Taiki in limping out of the way. "If I kill him, the transition will not be completed."

"Like hell I'm letting you do that! It's my throne you are aiming for bro, and my friends you're aiming to kill. So..." Shoutmon stepped back, twirling his mic to bludgeon Bagramon's head in.

Meanwhile, Taiki collapsed next to Yuu, who watched the Darkness Loader shrink slowly into a golden-yellow Xros Loader, the screen flashing in time with his erratic pulse. "Good job Yuu," he said softly. "I knew you could do this."

"Do what? What just happened?" Yuu looked between the battle and his hands in bewilderment. Taiki chuckled and patted Yuu's blond head, transferring his Digimon to the boy.

"I used the Code Crown to reform Shoutmon, but... he needed your determination to come back." He let the red light wrap around him again, humming to it soothingly. "Because you have a stronger heart than I do, one that overcomes, not endures. That's the kind of king Shoutmon will be." He rose to his feet, brushing off dirt and raising one hand. "Thanks... now then, I'm counting on you. Let's break this final illusion together all right?"

Yuu looked at him with hesitation before glancing at the Digivice in his hand.

"You are a General, Yuu," Taiki reminded him. "Let's bring everyone together, like we did before."  _One last time, my friend._  The Code Crown rushed around him, allowing his grey eyes to be lit up with red.

Yuu looked at his sister, who smiled from Sparrowmon's back as she blasted a group of enemies into an opposing wall, and at Zenjirou, who was smacking anything he could with a wooden sword. Then he nodded, the fear and confusion giving way to resolve.

He rose to his feet and gave Taiki a nod. "What's the plan?"


	30. Barriers

XXX. Barriers

_"There's nothing more satisfying than smashing a wall."_

"Even the playing field."

"Do we have time for that?"

Taiki shrugged. "We could if we wanted to." Shoutmon's roar above them made the walls shiver and Yuu paused. That was... not right somehow. Then again... maybe that was just something Shoutmon could do. He had, in his stint, paid more attention to the humans' hearts than the Digimon. He regretted that now. "We'll have to make time in any case." He clenched a fist and red ran down each finger, both the light and -Yuu cringed- from blood.

"Don't tell me there's a secret power up that you haven't told us about yet," Kiriha deadpanned as he leaped from SiegGreymon's back to the rest of them.

Taiki shook his head. "Nothing more than what we already have... and nothing more than what he already wants." He sighed. "It's what he has left that I'm waiting for... and what we need to counter. The darkness... it's not deep enough. Remember?"

Nene frowned, looking horribly disconcerted. Then her eyes widened. "Wait... wait... this isn't..."

Taiki nodded and ignored the confused look from everyone else. "Shoutmon! Get ready!"

"All right!" His body shone a familiar golden and Taiki gave his Xros Loader a single glance. Kiriha smiled, an expression of pure delight. Nene's voice was quiet enough to be missed in the roar of the battle.

 _"Great Xros."_  In a rush of flames and multicolored energy Shoutmon X7 stormed through the battlefield, flaming microphone crashing into Bagramon's bone arm with a satisfying thunk. Yuu, despite himself, cheered for a moment, until his golden Xros Loader began to beep urgently. That warning is just enough for him to leap from the path of a claw.

Taiki hissed something under his breath and icicles stabbed through the claw and into the creature's face. "Not time for celebration yet. Time to get creative."

"Got it!" Yuu paused for a moment. While he had learned absolutely nothing about the hearts of the Digimon, their abilities were so easily memorized it was like math homework. "Gaozmon! PawnChessmonz! DigiXros!"

An army of biting dinosaurs with flying spears. Well. It was a start. However...

"There isn't enough power here to defeat me."

Shoutmon sneered through his mask. "Don't be so disappointed!  _Seven... Victorize_!" The blast impacted into the fallen angel's face, revealing... nothing. No marks, no scratches, not a wound. "Oh shit..."

Bagramon -DarknessBagramon- smiled, and jet black wings burst from his back. "I think it's time to stop lying... don't you?  _Balefire Eyes_."

Kiriha cursed. "Knew I was forgetting that little detail."


	31. XXX. Shards

XXXI. Shards

_"Just drop it and let it break."_

The fire roared at them like a lion. Kiriha and Nene moved, returning the armies to their Xros Loaders. However, X7 remained, stepping in the way. He snarled in pain, but threw back a burning Troopmon. The floating embers struck Kiriha in the arm and he hissed sharply. Zenjirou moved forward and pulled Yuu out of the way, just as the blue flames rushed toward them all. "Kudo Taiki!" he called over the bloodcurdling screams. "Is that tear still open?"

Taiki nodded, glancing at them. "I can cover you for a few minutes," he replied, glancing at the chaos around them. "He's killing his own army... not very practical..."  _And horribly cruel,_ his mind reminded him

"That's because they are weak. He has faith in no one, have you forgotten?" The other voice's mental snarl was rather amused at the possibility. Taiki smiled and shook his head. His original plan had relied on that weakness. However, he could not exploit it now.

"Go on, the portal's open," he called to Akari. Reluctantly, she nodded, racing after Zenjirou and Yuu. "X7, how are you guys feeling?"

"Almost one hundred percent screwed man," Shoutmon quipped. "How are we taking out this guy?"

Taiki shrugged and grinned, watching Nene wrap her fingers around Kiriha's arm. "A miracle. Or some well-placed aggression."

 _Or..._  The Code Crown hissed. Y _ou could use me._

_I'm working on it._

X7 only snorted. "Sounds about right. _Double Flare Buster!_ " He fired his gun at the approaching flames. "All right, Taiki, on three! One!"

"Two." Bagramon began to flap his great, jet-black wings.

"Three!" The two of them turned and bolted into the great tear, vanishing from the darkened palace. Taiki rolled onto dead grass and spat green from his mouth. The Human World... his dimension must not have been able to sustain the stress. Oh well. It had been only temporary.

"Lovely," Kiriha rasped, gesturing to the world around them. "Ain't it?" Nene quickly finished tying a white handkerchief onto his burned arm. He resisted the urge to clamp his fingers over it, glaring at the sky. "Are we too late then?" he asked Akari and Zenjirou quietly, looking at the great black hand stabbing into the water, at the statues of human beings. Their town... it was deathly quiet, hollow, and still.

Akari opened her mouth to deny, but a harsh voice broke in for her.  _"It is never too late, General of Blue Flare."_

Taiki managed a weak smile as X7 turned toward the frozen water. "Omegamon."

_"It has been a while, Kudo Taiki. It is shame that these are the circumstances we have met in."_


	32. Loyalty

XXXII. Loyalty

_"Is this what strength is?"_

"Indeed it is," Taiki replied quietly.  _Are we ready?_

_No, but I have the feeling we'll be doing this anyway._

_Good_. He looked at them all and nodded. "Akari, Zenjirou, we're going to need your power, now more than ever. Use this." Taiki took his Xros Loader out, smiled at it a moment, and threw it for the pair of them to catch.

Akari sputtered. "But Taiki, we-"

"Couldn't use it last time!" Zenjirou finished. "We couldn't even use a DigiMemory! It's yours, isn't it?"

Taiki shrugged. "Yes, and I want you to use it. Now, go on. Hold it and remember. Remember OmegaShoutmon. Remember that moment." He bit at the side of his mouth, holding back words for a moment. Then he turned to his fellow Generals. "Think of your happiest moments, the moments you want back more than anything in the world. Believe we can get them back."

"What are  _you_  going to do, Taiki-kun?" Nene inquired, nevertheless taking her lavender Xros Loader in both hands.

He smiled at her, as though relieved she had asked. "Well... it's quite simple and yet... not all that simple at all. You all can activate this last attack... this  _Final Xros_... I'm just going to direct the energy to do it, using the Code Crown." Kiriha raised an eyebrow and Taiki flushed. "Okay, it's not that easy... but I can't explain it properly either. The Code Crown is in my head. It knows how to do this. I have this vision; it carries out that vision. Just like the dimension I pulled you into after  _Eternal Darkmare_... and when I attacked Bagramon..."

"And the red light," Kiriha finished. Taiki nodded. "How?"

"Che! Kiriha, you're asking that  _now_?" X7 was grinning beneath his face mask as Darkness Bagramon shattered the air and stepped through. Around him gathered black energy, swirling into a mantle. "This is the Code Crown that revives the dead and will make me the King! It chose Taiki; so it just makes his reality. Stop making everything so damn complicated."

Kiriha chuckled. "There is something to be said for being an idiot like you." He looked over at Bagramon's glowing form, and smiled. "I want you to  _disappear_."

Taiki waited, watching the others slowly listen to his directions. Then he smiled, eyes pitch black and abyssal red. _The round is almost over._

_"But the game has only just begun."_

Taiki shook his head at Bagramon.  _That's where you're wrong._  The Code Crown shifted slowly, swirling from embers of red to diamonds of gold. It sang in his ears and he laughed a little, the brittle noise loud in the silence of his friends.

Then Shoutmon roared and charged. " _Final Xros_ ," the General whispered with glee.

The world was bathed in golden light.


	33. XXXIII. Clash

XXXIII. Clash

_"Let the hearts resonate once more."_

Darkness Bagramon smiled in the darkness, releasing a burst of blue fire. "Alone, I have the strength of many." He stepped forward towards the golden light, unafraid. He seemed even amused at the prospect of someone even trying to oppose him in that way. "I will create the new world, where all will be better than they are."

"Like hell you will!" Shoutmon's voice was clear, almost calm even, in the face of these words. The flame touched at the light and vanished, swallowed by it even. "There are a lot of futures riding on this, you bastard!"

"No one wants you as their king," Nene intoned softly. "No one."

"Not even you," Kiriha agreed.

Their Xros Loaders burned at their fingers, harshly enough for them to fall from their hands and hit the ground, burning rainbow and white. Taiki nodded at them, even as Yuu yelped and dropped his own. "Look," Taiki said in a reverent awe. "Look what you guys have done."

As white wings formed from Shoutmon's back, they did manage to look away from the golden light and see tears forming in the sky. Down Digimon fell, falling toward the goliath that was charging at Bagramon with a large mic. The two struck at each other back and forth, as the golden machine took form. Even as Darkness Bagramon grew to match it, the smirk in his eyes never faded. "My conviction is stronger than yours."

Yuu stepped forward. "That's probably so." He picked up his Xros Loader again. "But your convictions against all of our ideals... your one resolve against ours... I've never been proficient at confirming quantity against quality with you, but I do believe you have no chance."

Shoutmon pulled his mic from Bagramon's hand and swung the pointed end toward the bony palm. It was yanked out of the air and almost thrown aside. Shoutmon only snorted and punched Bagramon hard in the face. The angel stumbled back. "Had enough? Cause I have." A blade began to form, pur white and beautiful in vivid song.

"To the victor goes the spoils then," Darkness Bagramon said with a small, mocking smile.

Taiki stepped back, away from the others. He closed his eyes and began to imagine one more time. "Indeed they do, sir. Indeed they do. Serial Link:  _Initiate._ "

_The spoils are already mine._


	34. Peace

XXXIV. Peace

_"It makes mockery of us all."_

_Serial XL: Recollection_

_Serial L: Melody_

_Serial CVIII: Time-Space_

_Link Program: Reality Warp_

Taiki concentrated on these three numbers, these three of the one-hundred-and-eight powers that made up the Code Crown. These would do more than complete the mission of the Final Xros. Quite frankly, the others could do that themselves. He hoped Bagramon enjoyed the irony.

_Master, this is possibly the most convoluted use of me you have invoked yet._

_Enjoying it?_

_Only minutely._

Taiki sighed, almost a noiseless motion. "You are so difficult to please." He looked up as Bagramon's bone hand glowed a dark violet. "As is he to accept defeat." He smiled again.

"God of Death Snatcher!" Shoutmon pinwheeled back, standing on his back foot. He snorted.

"You're going to have to try harder than that! There are a lot of souls here to take, bastard. Course..." He charged, swinging his mic in a downward slash. "Ain't making it that easy!  _Final Xros Blade!_ " A golden blade extended from the mic and he swung towards the human arm. Bagramon reached for the blade, his bone hand clasping at the blade and throwing it toward the side. He hissed in sharp pain, the formerly grey palm burned black.

Shoutmon grinned, barely keeping hold of the mic. "Didn't like that now, did ya?"

Bagramon said nothing, his wings preparing to flap. " _Eternal_ -"

"Eternal this." The large Digimon thrust the mic forward as Bagramon brought his wings down, stabbing the dark angel through the chest.

Yuu gaped. "That... that was-"

"The weakness of a swordsman," Zenjirou began quietly. "Or in the enemy of equal strength, is when he attacks. Well done."

X7 removed the blade, before lifting it high over his head and slicing down. Akari winced and Nene shook her head. "A bit far, that."

"We need to be sure," Kiriha said firmly. "He's dead. We have to be sure he's dead."

Bagramon did not scream. He merely let out a croak of pain as the blade sank into his head. Then he rasped. "Your round." Light lifted into the sky from him, turning his form transparent and slowly, Darkness Bagramon vanished, his whisper of a voice lingering in their ears.

"Was my ideal... truly so entrenched in folly?"

"No," Taiki hummed. "It just doesn't suit anyone but you."

That was the difference, in the end.

All for one, and one for all.


	35. XXXV. Happiness

XXXV. Happiness

_"Kind endings are to comfort the living."_

Xros Loaders hit darkened earth as the group sighed in relief. It was over. They had won. Bagramon's plan, whatever it had really been in the end, had clearly not worked. Taiki watched them, watched their eyes, and chuckled a little. It went unnoticed, and he began to walk away. The gentle rhythm of power continued to thrum under his fingers.

The battle was over, but the Code Crown wasn't finished. Neither was he, not really. He wondered if they would see that.

They probably wouldn't. They never did. They hadn't seen his tears. Certainly they wouldn't catch on.

A part of him was relieved about that. That part burst out laughing and continued even as the others turned to look, as the Final Xros ended and the grass turned green. He laughed until he was crying and the tears were turning into red droplets. They made his skin burn a little bit. "You guys... you really thought there would be a happy ending, didn't you?" His voice sounded as gentle as it ever had. He pitied them for not knowing, and envied them for it too. "Those don't exist yet. They haven't been made."

He saw Yuu tense, saw Akari coiled to strike him as she once had struck the Code Crown, and shook his head. "You didn't save me. You just delayed what was going to happen. I congratulate you on trying though."

The light smoked and burned. It was getting hard to see through it. He could still hear and he heard Yuu's voice, his confusion. He could hear their screams, their horror, and could only shake his head.

"Amano Yuu-kun, all of you... don't you _understand_?" The black and red abyss smiled at them one more time. "The game hasn't been finished yet."

Then, he was gone, leaving only the Code Crown spiraling into Shoutmon's waiting hands.

_"The next round is beyond us."_


	36. Extra: Toys

Extra Episode: Toys

_"Humans are such easy prey."_

"You lost again."

"Your plan didn't work."

"No, it didn't, but I didn't think it would. Insanity plea didn't work either though~"

He sat back, observing his opponent's smile. "Are you saying we both failed in objectives?"

The smile widened, all innocence, all camaraderie. "You betcha." The child's eyes glowed a little, expression as pretty as a demonic picture. "Humans like putting things in their neat little boxes. So they would have forced me back to where I "needed" to be. I don't blame them. They can't see the board."

"Such a shame. I thought memory exposure would work," he said, toying with a large, ornate king on his board. "What will you do now? That  _thing_  will infect the board soon."

"I still need to  _kill_  him," whined the child, though their expression never changed. "He's not a player or a piece and he's not part of the board. His inclusion... it's just  _boring_."

"For once I agree with you. Quartz was a foolish inclusion. Couldn't it be used some other way?"

"Something non-standard? A disease maybe." The large eyes rolled. "Nothing they will think of, I'm sure."

"What would you do with it?"

"It's a part of time-space, silly. I intend to use it. If I told you how, that would ruin the game."

"I am uncertain if it is the passing of time, or the use of this board, but you have become  _quite_  the devilish youth Kudo Taiki."

The little boy smiled. "Wasn't that what you wanted?"

Bagramon chuckled. "I suppose it was. I'll have to prepare the game for that next time." He raised his normal hand and reached for a cup. "May it be the last game."

"May the gods grow bored," the little boy agreed, swinging his legs back and forth.

An iron shackle clanged against his chair as he moved, singing his words for him.


End file.
